Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued March 22 at 7:48PM EDT until March 22 at 8:30PM EDT by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)

SVRILN
The National Weather Service in Wilmington has issued a
* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Northern Auglaize County in west central Ohio... Northeastern Mercer County in west central Ohio...
* Until 830 PM EDT.
* At 747 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Rockford, moving east at 60 mph.
HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Minor hail damage to vehicles is possible. Expect wind damage to trees and power lines.
* Locations impacted include... Wapakoneta, Fort Shawnee, Cridersville, Rockford, Waynesfield, Mendon, Buckland, Uniopolis, Neptune, Kossuth, State Route 116 at State Route 197, and Tama.
This includes I-75 in Ohio between mile markers 114 and 118.

Special Weather Statement issued March 22 at 7:46PM EDT by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)

At 746 PM EDT, a strong thunderstorm was located over Rockford, moving east at 60 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 45 mph and nickel size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. Hail may cause minor damage to vegetation.
Locations impacted include... Wapakoneta, Fort Shawnee, Cridersville, Rockford, Mendon, Buckland, Uniopolis, Neptune, Kossuth, State Route 116 at State Route 197, and Tama.
This includes I-75 in Ohio between mile markers 114 and 118.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued March 22 at 5:43PM EDT until March 23 at 12:00AM EDT by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 73 IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS
IN INDIANA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 8 COUNTIES
IN EAST CENTRAL INDIANA
FAYETTE UNION WAYNE
IN SOUTHEAST INDIANA
DEARBORN FRANKLIN OHIO RIPLEY SWITZERLAND
IN KENTUCKY THIS WATCH INCLUDES 3 COUNTIES
IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY
BOONE CAMPBELL KENTON
IN OHIO THIS WATCH INCLUDES 32 COUNTIES
IN CENTRAL OHIO
DELAWARE FAIRFIELD FAYETTE FRANKLIN HOCKING LICKING MADISON PICKAWAY UNION
IN SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO
ADAMS HIGHLAND PIKE ROSS SCIOTO
IN SOUTHWEST OHIO
BROWN BUTLER CLERMONT CLINTON HAMILTON WARREN
IN WEST CENTRAL OHIO
AUGLAIZE CHAMPAIGN CLARK DARKE GREENE HARDIN LOGAN MERCER MIAMI MONTGOMERY PREBLE SHELBY
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF ABERDEEN, ADA, ALEXANDRIA, AURORA, BATESVILLE, BEAVERCREEK, BELLEFONTAINE, BELLEVUE, BLANCHESTER, BRIGHT, BROOKVILLE, BURLINGTON, CAMDEN, CELINA, CHILLICOTHE, CIRCLEVILLE, COLDWATER, CONNERSVILLE, COVINGTON, DAY HEIGHTS, DAYTON, DELAWARE, DILLSBORO, DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI, DOWNTOWN COLUMBUS, DOWNTOWN DAYTON, EATON, ERLANGER, FAIRBORN, FAIRFIELD, FLORENCE, FORT THOMAS, FRANKLIN, GEORGETOWN, GREENDALE, GREENFIELD, GREENVILLE, HAMILTON, HIDDEN VALLEY, HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, HILLSBORO, INDEPENDENCE, KENTON, KETTERING, LANCASTER, LANDEN, LAWRENCEBURG, LEBANON, LIBERTY, LOGAN, LONDON, MANCHESTER, MARYSVILLE, MASON, MIDDLETOWN, MILAN, MILFORD, MINSTER, MOUNT CARMEL, MOUNT ORAB, MOUNT REPOSE, MULBERRY, NEW BREMEN, NEWARK, NEWPORT, OAKBROOK, OSGOOD, OXFORD, PEEBLES, PICKERINGTON, PIKE LAKE, PIKETON, PIQUA, PLAIN CITY, PORTSMOUTH, RICHMOND, RIPLEY, RISING SUN, SEAMAN, SIDNEY, SPRINGBORO, SPRINGFIELD, ST. MARYS, SUMMERSIDE, TIPP CITY, TROY, URBANA, VERSAILLES, VEVAY, WAPAKONETA, WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, WAVERLY, WEST COLLEGE CORNER, WEST JEFFERSON, WEST UNION, WHEELERSBURG, WILMINGTON, WINCHESTER, WITHAMSVILLE, AND XENIA.

Thursday, June 6th, 2024

St. Marys hires new head basketball coach

By Abigail Miller

Submitted Photo

Jordan Blackburn is the new St. Marys High School basketball coach.

ST. MARYS - School board members on Monday night hired a new boys varsity basketball coach.

Jordan Blackburn of Reynoldsburg will succeed longtime boys basketball coach Dan Hegemier, who announced his retirement in late March.

Blackburn was the assistant women's basketball coach at Ohio Wesleyan University. He also coached boys basketball at Delaware Hayes High School for 16 years, including 10 years as head coach, according to the Ohio Wesleyan University athletic website.

While at Delaware Hayes High School, he had a 142-88 record as head coach and set a career mark for winning percentage, per the website. Under Blackburn, the Pacers reached double figures in victories in every season, won an Ohio Capital Conference championship and made two appearances in the district tournament, including a spot in the district finals in 2015.

Hegemier first retired in 2015 after a six-year stint with the Roughriders, but was persuaded to come back in 2019 and coached five more years, guiding the Roughriders to an 89-32 mark.

"I'm 72 years old, I've done this for 38 years and I just decided enough is enough," he said in March. "I've had a great run and had the opportunity to coach a lot of good players, and I also had the joy of having a lot of good assistant coaches. It was just time to go. Just time to move on."

School board members then approved the resignation of Joe Hegemier, the son of Dan Hegemier, as assistant varsity boys basketball coach.

In other business, board members approved a $9,425 contribution from the district building fund to the city of St. Marys for construction of fencing at the softball diamond at K.C. Geiger Park.

Work underway at the diamonds includes new scoreboards, fencing and dugouts, according to city safety director Greg Foxhoven.

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"Big thanks to the city of St. Marys for investing in doing the upgrades to our varsity girls' softball diamond at K.C. Geiger Park," said superintendent Bill Ruane. "If you've seen it, it really looks nice. It's not completely done yet, but it's well on its way, and it's an amazing upgrade. I know they have more in the future, but they made this happen. They made it happen pretty quick."

Also, school board members accepted a $500 donation from the St. Marys Foundry for the FFA Heal the Heroes project and a $1,000 donation from the St. Marys Rotary Club for the Memorial High School Memorial Games.

The annual Memorial Games are held at the end of the school year. High school students play staff in various tournaments and participate in a variety of activities.

School board members went into executive session to discuss employment. No action was anticipated afterward.

The board meets next at 6:30 p.m. July 10 in the high school auditorium.

Archive of June 6th, 2024

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Fort prepares for state trip

Tournament turnaround gives Indians first state berth since 2016

Early in the season, Fort Recovery was slumping at the plate for the second straight year and struggling on defense, while its ace pitcher had trouble locating his curveball and its No. 2 pitcher was limited to the lineup with a knee injury. [More]

Subscriber and paid stories on this date

Brothers open used car lot

St. Marys car lot coincides with growth downtown

ST. MARYS - The Timmerman brothers have had a keen interest in the auto industry ever since they first got their hands greasy working on cars in the garage with their father.

Parkway building due date delayed

ROCKFORD - Following ground delays, the estimated completion date for Parkway Local Schools' $2.81 million athletic building has been pushed back three months to February 2025.

Three arraigned on miscellaneous charges

WAPAKONETA - Three men were arraigned on a variety of charges this week in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court.

David A. Russell Jr., 42, Wapakoneta, was arraigned on one count of strangulation, a fourth-degree felony; and one count of domestic violence, a first-degree misdemeanor.

Older homes in Mercer County

The oldest home in Celina and one of the oldest ones in Mercer County, which in 1956 was a residence, was at 111 S. Ash St.. It was then owned by Mr. and Mrs. John R. Sealschott. The property was transferred to the city on June. 25, 1968.

Area Roundup

Bulldogs beat Flyers in slugfest

Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry

Celina took advantage of seven Marion Local errors to win a 14-10 slugfest in ACME baseball action at Montgomery Field Wednesday. The game was truncated to six innings due to the weather.

Coldwater alum Wenning elected to Ball State HOF

Coldwater graduate Keith Wenning will be inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 4.

The standout quarterback helped the Cardina